A Wolf's Musings
by saphire butterfly
Summary: Itachi Uchiha is changed into a wolf by an unknown source. While out hunting, as a wolf, he runs into Sakura Haruno, a Konoha missing nin. Now he travels with her while trying to discover her secrets. Easier said than done. Rating may go up. CHAR DEATH
1. Chapter 1

I hid in the shadows, my black fur blending in perfectly, watching as my prey ate some grass. I truly hated having to kill like this. There was no art in killing this way. I longed to feel cool metal steel in my hands again, but I resigned myself to this temporary fate of mine as a wolf.

I looked again to my prey, tensing my muscles ready to pounce, but at the last second I held myself back. Where my prey was just eating stood a cloaked figure; holding the rabbit in its hands. I watched as it reached up to its hood and pulled it down. Long flowing pink hair flowed down to its waist. The pale hand reached to the clasp in the front, swiftly undoing it and let it fall to the ground. If I were in my original form and if I was subject to certain, unbecoming actions, I would have let my mouth hang ajar.

She had pale, flawless skin. Her hair, as I have already mentioned, was pink and flowed like water to her waist. She had a small waist, truly she was small overall, but her waist was noticeably small. She had great breasts, they weren't necessarily big, but on her they looked huge, though, she showed no sign of them bothering her. She would be at least a foot smaller than myself, I mused.

She was wearing a black corset with crimson red stitching. Her tights went down to her knees. The ends were finished in lace, which had a few randomly placed red strings. She had no shoes. On her left ankle she wore two black cords, each had a charm. One had a simple orange swirl and the other was the Uchiha fan. I wondered who this was, to have the audacity to wear my symbol when they didn't know me. I narrowed my eyes and continued my examination.

On her left ankle was a simple silver chain with five charms. There was a silver 'x', a silly pig charm, a silver kanji symbol for love, a childish dog charm, and, oddly, a random bowl charm. On each wrist was a velvet ribbon of deep maroon color. She had nothing on her neck. I looked down to her waist, to see if there was anything special about her belt, only to realize it wasn't a belt. It was her hitae-ate(sp?). She was a Konoha nin, I mean _missing-nin_, I mentally corrected as I noticed the slash through the symbol.

I hesitated for just a moment before walking from the bushes. Her head snapped to me as she pulled a beautiful katana I hadn't noticed before. She didn't relax, even as she realized I was 'just' a wolf. I walked forward and when I was only a couple of feet away, I dropped to the ground and rolled over onto my back, leaving my neck open.

We stayed in the tense silence for what seemed hours. Finally, she re-sheathed her katana. I rolled over and got into a sitting position. We stared at each other as she got into a squatting position. She smiled and started stroking the fur on my side, it was surprisingly soothing.

"Well, aren't you beautiful? Amazing eyes." I continued staring. Her voice was smoothing. I watched as she stood, dropped the rabbit in front of me, put her cloak on, then leave. I stared after her before following her previous path. When she looked back at me, all she did was smile and continued walking. As we continued walking in silence, I had a strangely amusing thought:

I, Itachi Uchiha, s-class criminal, was following a pink haired woman like a dog that needed protection.

**A/N: ok, just a little weird. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it!!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**


	2. Chapter 2

We continued walking, even as the moon rose and settled high above us in the cloudless night sky. I looked up at my companion. I could barely make her out, her cloak completely covered her. I knew that I was near invisible too, only my eyes would give me away in the dark. I turned said ominously glowing red eyes back to the woman's covered face.

I wondered as to why this woman, whom I had discovered was the infamous Sakura Haruno, was wondering these dangerous woods alone, I wondered why she was a missing Nin. The only information I knew about her was semi-common knowledge. She used to be on my little brother and the Kyuubi(sp?) containers team. I studied up on the group. Truthfully, I don't know why anyone was surprised when she became incredibly strong, even surpassing the Hokage's powers—all of them. They already knew she had perfect chakra control, a strong will, was intelligent, and was a quick learner. So, really, I don't know why people were surprised. I kept a few tabs here and there on her, just because she piqued my interest, but she wasn't my last surviving relative or my long time mission target.

My last tab of her was around two years ago, she had simply disappeared. I had been curious and wanted to look into it, but it was not something I was allowed. She was of no importance to the Akatsuki-thank god-since we weren't looking for members, not that she would join. I still hope she wouldn't want to join, no matter how 'heartless' I am, I would never wish for a person to have to grow up to fast, to see horrors no one should ever see.

I looked back up at her as we stopped. I cocked my head to the side as she looked to me, silently asking what we were doing. She smiled and pointed in front of us. I looked. It was a small village, most definitely not a shinobi one. There weren't a lot of buildings, a few stores, a small inn, and a few farms on the outskirts. I followed her as she walked from the woods into the town. She walked to the inn, not even looking at the closed stores. I followed her like a shadow.

We got lucky. The owners of the inn were just getting ready to go to bed when we entered. They gave us our requested room for one without a problem, shaking with slight fear as they looked at me. Who wouldn't, I was a red eyed wolf whose back reached his companions mid thigh. We walked down the hall and into the room. It was simple.

There was a cot in the corner with a single thin blanket. A table with two chairs was on the opposite side of the room. Beside the table was a door, and I'm assuming it led to the bathroom. I looked at Sakura as she walked to the table and got ready for bed.

She took off her cloak first, hanging it on the back of the chair. She then took off her missing-nin mark. She took off her ribbon bracelets. My eyes widened as she took off her clothes. The corset easily came off her as soon as the bindings were undone. Her flawless skin truly extended all over her body, except for one scar. It wrapped from the bottom of her spine, right before her pants line, and disappearing around her right side. My curiosity was sated as she turned around.

The two mounds on her chest were snowy white with dusky tips. She was simply beautiful. I looked down to her stomach to see the scar finish right above her belly button. It was a completely smooth cut and it didn't look that old. She bent down and slid her tights off. She folded her clothes and placed her sheathed sword, which I hadn't seen her take off, on top of her clothes. She stood up and looked to me. She followed my gaze down to her scar and gave me a sad smile as she looked back up.

"That happened about two years back. I was leaving my hometown. An old friend of mine attempted to battle me. He died. But I didn't come out unharmed. This nearly got me killed. It slowed me down and the hunter-nin nearly caught me. I could've gotten rid of this, but it's my last memory of that place. Well, come on, time for bed." It took me a moment but I eventually jumped onto the bed and laid down next to her. As I was almost asleep, I realized two things.

One, she just told me part of the reason why she was a missing-nin.

And two, I noticed with a blush that would've been seeable if I were human, was that Sakura was still completely naked.

**A/N: ok, so obviously there is a lot of OOCness. Hoped you liked it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: hey, sorry it's been so long since I last got on. I finally got a laptop and this is my first thing typed up on it, so yay! ok, well on with the chapter. I hope you enjoy and merry Christmas!

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**I woke up to a light shifting on the bed. I tiredly opened my eyes, I never was a morning person. it was Sakura. She was sitting up and when she looked at me she gave a tired smile. Her snowy white hand reached out and pet my head. Her hands were surprisingly warm, and her nails raked against my head, sending ripples of pleasure throughout my entire body. I opened my eyes in shock at my incredibly impure thoughts as I imagined her nails somewhere else. I gave myself a mental shake and focused back on her. She gave me a final pat and stood. Those thoughts came back, I had to once again give myself a mental shake.**

**I watched her walk over to the small bathroom, after a short mental debate I followed. she looked down at me with a little shock before smiling. "You are dirty, you need a bath. Come on, I want to leave before the sun rises." it was only then that I realized the sun was still down. she closed the door and waited for the water to get warm. Once it was and there was some steam starting to rise she stepped in. After a moments hesitation I stepped in after her.**

**She first washed her hair with unscented shampoo and conditioner. Her pink hair reached her mid back, it was beautiful. she looked like some sort of angel or nymph with her pale skin, pink hair, and bright green eyes. Finally she turned to me with a handful of unscented shampoo. I cocked my head to the side as she kneeled before me in the spraying water from the shower. Her hands were soft yet firm as she cleaned my entire body. I was in heaven. Finally we were done and as we got out I saw that the sun still hadn't risen. I looked over to see what Sakura was doing.**

**She was dressing. I noticed she was still wearing the anklets. I already figured that the two on her left ankle were to represent the kyuubi container, Naruto Uzumaki and most likely the Uchiha fan actually was for my brother, not me. I looked to her other ankle, I was curious to the origins of the charms on the anklet. But I couldn't figure out how to ask…then it came to me.**

**Once she had finished putting on her plain black chest bindings and short black shorts. She was again barefoot. I walked over to her and nudged my nose-yes, very degrading-against her right ankle and cocked my head to the side once she looked down to me. It took her a moment before she talked.**

"**Do you want to know why I have all of these charms?" When I just continued to stare at her she continued her explanation. "Ok, you see this silver 'x'? well, it's to represent one of my best friends, Neji Hyuga. He trained me a little. This pig is for my best friend ever, Ino Yamanaka. She supported me through everything, she was like a sister to me. The bowl is for Chouji, he's Ino's Husband. He helped me become a bottomless pit of a vacuum when I eat, it's awesome." She was almost like a young teenager while reminiscing, it was nice. I would have to figure out how to get her to reminisce again. "The love symbol is for my brother, Gaara. Yeah, I found out a few months before I left Konoha. He's the best brother. The dog is for Kiba, my best guy friend, he taught me everything I know about fighting with an animal companion. Hmm, I wonder if we could ever fight together…." She looked down to me thoughtfully before she burst out in laughter. I cocked my head to the side. "I'm talking to a wolf and am believing you can hear and understand me. I must be off my rocker." She giggled a couple more times before snapping on her cloak. I followed her as we walked out the door.**

**~8 hour time skip~**

**I was exhausted when we finally stopped. She had decided to run today. I have no idea why, no one was following, at least I didn't think so…we had stopped by a river. The water was clear and cool, it was nice after an exhausting morning. We had gotten lucky, there was a semi hollowed out tree with a hole in the ground. It just barely fit the both of us. We spent the rest of the day out, and the next. In fact, we stayed there for around four days total before I asked, in my own way, what we were doing here.**

**She answered with a smile. "I'm settling down, I don't see the point in always running around. I've been gathering supplies I need. There is a nice place I can make my home, no one will ever know I was a shinobi." and at that moment I knew that even if I return to my human self, I would never leave her. I had been looking for a way to leave the Akatsuki, they probably thought I was dead, it has been over two weeks at least since I was put in this form. It sounded nice to retire from being a shinobi, I had done to many bad things. I was tired of living my life simply killing and living alone. Although, I deserved it after what I had done, to-NO! that was not what I wanted to do, I had to, it was for the best. I shook my head and followed Sakura as she beckoned to me.**

"**You know, I should probably name you, do you have a name you would like. I nodded my head. She waited a moment before speaking again. "You wanna have time to think of a name?" I nodded again. "Ok, well, this will be our home once I'm done. It's not much now, but I like it." I looked to the area she had decided to make hers, it made me smile.**

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**A/N: ok, sorry it took me longer than expected, enjoy!!**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: ok, second chapter in one day. I would've put this up earlier but we were in traffic and I didn't have a charger, so yeah….anyways, hope you enjoy!**

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There was a small little path leading down to the water shore. I realized, once we had walked down, that there was an overhang. Vines covered the opening to the overhang, making it a perfect place hide and the water went under the vines, which were floating over the top. The path we were on went through the vines, at the top of the overhang. Inside was a small clearing, quite a ways back from the wall of vines, the between the clearing and vines was water. The sun barely peeked through the vines so we had natural lighting, although it was very dim. The clearing had a small cottage, and trust me when I say it was small. It was perfect for one person, maybe two. It was stone and built into the overhangs wall and it had a sturdy wood top. I could tell it was new, so she must have been building it this entire time we have been here. The rest of the clearing was open, and although it was a tad small, would be a perfect training ground to at least keep her well trained, just in case.

I looked back at Sakura to see her smile, and at that moment I desperately wished I was human again. I looked at her with happy, yet longing, eyes. She must not have noticed the longing in my eyes as she looked down to me, because her smile grew. She reached out her hand and scratched my head, which made me purr, although, it was quite odd coming from a dog. She smiled and continued down the path which ended as soon as it got to the land. We walked together to the cottage and paused before it. We looked at each other. I knew, at that moment, that I was falling in love. It may be hard to believe, I was having trouble with the concept of me loving, but I was truly falling in love.

I shook my head as she reached her hand to the door and opened it. The inside was homey and bigger than I expected, she must have dug into the wall. The first room we walked into was pretty big, it had two couches, one was long enough for me to stretch out if I were a human and the other one was perfect for me in my dog size to be comfortable. I gave a mental smile as I realized she wanted me to stay with her. She may not know who I was, but she wanted me to stay. The couches were facing a large fireplace. There was an end table with a lamp on both sides of each couch. The floor was hard wood. Their was a door on the opposite wall and two doors on the wall to our left.

"Well, it's not much, but this could be a place to just sit. I'm putting a bookshelf in once I get a job in the nearby village. Do you want to see the kitchen?" I nodded and we walked in the door on the opposite side of the room. The kitchen was perfect for two people. It was simple with a sink, refrigerator, oven/stove, and lots of cabinets. The floor was wood, as was the shelving. I could tell by one look that there was not a lot in here.

She crouched down in front of me and started scratching behind my ears as she spoke. "Again, I'll get more stuff when I get that job. We'll probably struggle for a bit, but if I really need the money I'll find a good, one time job as a shinobi." I felt bad for right then. I remember how hard it was to live all alone as a missing-nin, I probably wouldn't have survived without stealing if the Akatsuki hadn't of shown up. But now that I think back on it, I wished I had just tried to survive alone. I'd been trapped there for about nine years before this happened and I met Sakura. I'm not even sure how this happened, but I believe it was Orochimaru's doing…before I could explore this idea more though, Sakura interrupted my thoughts. "Ok, ready to see the rooms?" I again nodded my head.

We walked back into the living room of sorts and walked to the door closest to the entrance door. Inside was a simple cot with a ton of blankets, a red carpeted floor, a book shelf covering the entire back wall, half of it was already full, a table beside the bed with a lamp-a light switch was on the wall beside the door and when she entered she flipped on the switch which bathed the entire room in light, so the lamp must be used for reading before bed-and a door to the left. I walked over to the door and looked inside since it was slightly open. It was a full bathroom, sink, toilet, and tub.

"This will be my room, yours to since you'll probably be sleeping in here with me. Ok, onto the last room." so we walked back out and into the last room. It was smaller. It had a cot, blue carpet, a bedside table also with a lamp, a small bookcase on the far wall, and a door on the back wall, beside the bookcase. I could see from her that it was a bathroom-sink, toilet, and shower. I was confused, why was there a second bedroom? I looked at Sakura and cocked my head to the side, looking between her and the room.

"Ok, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I believe you are actually a human that was hit with some unknown jutsu." I froze, how could she already know? "You are to smart to be a wolf. So am I right, are you really human?" I contemplated lying to her and shaking my head, but I knew that I couldn't lie to her. So I sighed and looked her in the eye, which was right in front of me since she had knelt down, and nodded. She squealed and jumped up. She danced in a little circle before blushing and crouching down in front of me again. "So, what's your name?"

Now I was nervous. I knew that once I told her she would kill me or be terrified of me. I looked at her with desperate and sad eyes and shook my head. Her beautiful emerald eyes looked in confusion as I slightly whimpered. I watched as comprehension dawned in her eyes. "You're a bad person. Most likely a missing-nin, right?" I nodded my head. "Well, so am I, you can tell me who you are. Whatever you did couldn't have been that bad, right?" I shook my head. "Oh…what if I gave you my word that I wouldn't hate you, would you tell me then?" I looked at her for a moment. She couldn't just give her word not to hate me, that wasn't possible. She would hate me as soon as she figured out who I was. I sighed, knowing that she would eventually find out. I again looked at her with sad eyes and nodded my head. Before she could make her promise that I know she would break, I nudged my nose against the Uchiha fan on her ankle. She looked at me with confused eyes.

"What does the fan have anything to do with this? Are you related to the family?"I shook my head and then nodded. "O-or are you part of the Uchiha family?" I nodded my head, my eyes incredibly sad. "Sasuke?" I shook my head then lowered it. I was to depressed to want to see the expression of hate enter her face. I didn't see, but instead of hate a smile spread across her face. "Oh good, then you're Itachi-san, right?" my head shot up an looked at her face with a mixture of happiness and confusion as I observed her happy and relieved expression. I cocked my head to the side, my expression going to weariness.

"I found your files at Konoha one day while I was organizing the secret files room behind the Hokage's office. I read that the Uchiha clan massacre was an order from the elders. Now, why would I hate you if you were just following orders. I was ordered by the elders to assassinate the Hokage, my teacher and adopted mother. Needless to say, I didn't follow orders. Instead, I killed the elders and a lot of good shinobi, including your brother, Sasuke. He was helping the elders. I found out that the elders were in an alliance with Orochimaru, that is why they ordered all of these insane things. If they hadn't been destroyed Konoha would have fallen, though I believe it may have been in vane. Orochimaru will probably still attack, the people are in panic and unorganized. There is no hope for them. I have already told Gaara to give up on them and instead gather forces and attack Orochimaru directly after he attacks Konoha, that is when he will be weakest." I was nodding my head along with her explanations and plans after I got over my initial shock that she truly didn't hate me. She truly was intelligent and I admired that. I scooted a little closer to her and put my head over her shoulder, hoping she would realize that I was hugging her. I wasn't disappointed, I could almost feel her smile as she put her arms around me and squeezed me to her.

We stayed in this position for a while, both of us content to never move again. But alas, Sakura's legs started shaking before she fell backwards, still holding onto me. We both fell, her on her back and myself laying over her. She gave a pretty blush before wriggling out from under me. I gave a small bark to her and lightly held her wrist in my mouth as she started walking away. She looked at me in confusion. All I did was bark again and walk to the front door. She curiously followed me outside after she opened the door, closing it behind her. I turned to her and pounced, she was surprised for a moment and dodged. We continued in this fashion, my tag wagging, until she figured it out-I was playing. Yes, I, Itachi Uchiha, was playing like a true, oversized puppy. She laughed and continued playing until the small bit of sun shining through the vines disappeared.

We walked inside completely exhausted and into the kitchen. She made us a delicious, yet small, dinner. We ate in silence. She washed our dishes. It wasn't until we were going to bed that she spoke. I had jumped onto the smaller of the two couches as she walked to the bigger of the two bedrooms. She turned to me as she realized I was no longer following her. I had watched as a smile replaced her slight frown of confusion and spoke her beautiful voice to me, my name escaping her delicious looking lips. _'I'm quite the romantic tonight aren't I?' _"Itachi, just because I've found out who you are doesn't mean I'm going to kick you out of my bed, at least not until you return to your human form. We've been sleeping together for the past week." I raised my mental eyebrow at her and would have laughed as she realized what she had just said. "Geez, that sounded really dirty." she blushed and walked into her room. I laughed mentally at her expression and her innocence. I jumped into her bed and watched as she got ready for bed. She took off her hitae-ate and ribbon bracelets. She pulled off her mesh shirt and medic skirt, but she didn't stop there. No, she took off her black chest bindings and pulled off her tight black shorts and under ware. My eyes were wide as she turned around to me, completely naked. She knew who I was, why in the world would she strip before me?! She noticed my expression and gave a short, bell-like laugh. "Itachi-san, I sleep naked, you know this, you've seen me naked before. I don't see any reason why I should be modest if you already know what I look like. Anyways, any other guy would be jumping in joy to know that a girl would willingly strip and sleep, in the same bed as them, naked." I nodded my head at her logic and watched as she laid down beside me. I walked up beside her, rested my head on her stomach, and fell asleep with her.

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**A/N: ok, this is longer than normal. I hope you liked the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or its characters.**


	5. Chapter 5

I awoke in the morning, one arm asleep, curled around a much smaller body. It felt fragile and delicate, yet so very warm. I sleepily opened my eyes with a smile and looked down to the pink headed woman I held in my strong arms. I froze. Arms?

My eyes shot open, now completely alert, as I sat up quickly. I looked down to my muscled chest, which was clearly human. My arm, a shade darker than Sakura's skin, was still around her shoulders, even as I was sitting up. I looked down to my waist, only to discover that I was indeed completely naked. I shifted until I was under the blankets, the lower half of my body covered by the green cloth. I looked back down to the woman laying beside me.

She was snuggled into my arm, facing me. The blanket, which I had slightly pulled off of her, was resting just above her breasts, over her arm. How could someone so small be so strong? How could anyone wish her harm? I sighed and laid back down, facing her. I placed my other arm over her.

I waited for nearly an hour before she awoke. Her eyes opened slowly, staring at me blankly. She didn't seem to know who I was, which didn't surprise me. I believe we had only seen each other once, and that was when I was attempting to capture Naruto. A moment of staring before she rolled on top of me, a kunai to my neck. Where she got the kunai, I'll never know. She looked down at me with a confused expression.

"Who are you?"

"Itachi." Her eyes narrowed slightly before she nodded and sat back, sitting on my stomach. I froze. If she shifted down slightly, she'd be sitting in my lap. Naked. We would both be naked. I struggled desperately to keep my blush down.

"How did you become human?" I successfully kept most of the blush down before I answered.

"I'm not sure, I awoke this way." She nodded as she stood up.

"Would you like to go to your room to clean up? No offense, but you smell." She smiled and then walked into her bathroom, closing the door behind her. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and drug the blanket with me as I walked out of the room, trying to get the image of her sitting over me naked out of my head.

The water beating down on my _skin_, not fur, was amazing. I thoroughly scrubbed my skin, trying to rid the smell of wolf off of my skin. I'm not sure how long I'll stay human, but I'm going to at least stay nice smelling until I do change back into a Wolf. It was inevitable, I know I was going to be a wolf again.

I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. Above the sink was a small sink that Sakura had provided me. I leaned down and hand brushed my hair, which was already quickly drying. As soon as I had deemed myself as presentable as possible, I left the bathroom and walked into my room. I quickly grabbed the green blanket from Sakura's bed and walked silently to her room to sit on her bed as I waited for her to finish.

I didn't have to wait long. Just as I was settling comfortably on the bed, she walked out dressed in her black corset and black leggings, the ones with the red tied into her outfit. She was pulling her hair into a ponytail with a black ribbon with difficulty. I smiled gently and walked over to her. She looked at me with a confused expression.

"What is it? Is something wrong?" I shook my head and motioned for her to turn around, which she did so willingly. I took the ribbon from her hands as I answered.

"No, but you seem to be having some trouble, allow me to do this for you." She nodded with hesitation. I quickly pulled her hair into one hand, slipped the ribbon under it, and quickly tied it tightly. I ran my hand over her head, down her neck, and over her shoulders before pulling back, allowing for her to turn around. She looked up at me questioningly.

"I'm not sure what I expected, but I can tell you it was positively not you doing my hair." I smiled at her.

"There are many things about myself that you have yet to discover. Would you like to eat?" I needed to change the subject, if not, I'm afraid I would start revealing things that neither of us were ready for. She nodded, suspiciously, and we walked to the small kitchen. "Sit, please let me cook for you." she nodded once more and I began my search of the kitchen.

There was a total of a box of crackers, a few pieces of bread, some instant ramen, and a box of hot chocolate mix. The fridge held three eggs, a little bit of milk, some cheese, and tomatoes. The freezer held some meat and ice. She had three plates, one metal cup, a single bowl, and a pair of senbon needles that were filed and dulled so much that they worked as chopsticks.

I sighed sadly as I took a quick glance back at her. She had her head resting on her folded arms on the table. She needed help, which she would get from me, and she needed money, which I knew exactly where I could get some. I smirked to myself before grabbing two eggs and two pieces of bread.

I took the bread off the stove as it turned golden and put the pan with the eggs on next. My mother used to make this breakfast before I went to the Academy, it reminded me of the happiness. I smiled slightly.

The smile was still on my face as I brought Sakura her toast and egg on one plate, mine on another. I quickly set the plates on the table before rushing back over to the counter top to get the metal cup filled with a little bit of milk. I set it on the table between us. She smiled gratefully up at me before beginning her meal.

She ate her egg first, handing me the senbon-turned-chopsticks to me as she did so. I finished up my toasted bread before eating my egg. I waited as she took a sip of the milk, simply watching her as she drank. I took my fill after she handed it to me, our fingers barely touching as we did so. I smiled and stood up from the table, walking to the sink with the dishes, she followed.

"What do you think you're doing? I've got the dishes." I smiled down to her and shook my head.

"You've taken such good care of me, I'll wash the dishes, it's not that big of a deal."

"Then you shouldn't have a problem with me doing the dishes." She raised a beautiful, pink eyebrow. My lips twitched and I was tempted to kiss her, again. I shook my head and made a compromise.

"I wash, you dry and put the dishes away." We stared at each other for a few moments before she relented and nodded. I smiled and couldn't resist the temptation. I leaned down and kissed her forehead. Her eyes widened comically, but I refused to look at her. I started doing dishes instead. Her gaze lifted from me as I gave her the first dish.

-(^.^)-

The next two weeks followed in much of the same fashion. I was lucky, I hadn't turned back into a wolf yet. We had gone into town after a few days and got us both a job as teachers for the students who wanted to become so that they could protect their families and village.

They weren't taught the same way as Konoha. They were all in one class together, all eight of them, and taught by the teachers, me, Sakura, and an older man, at once. Not very efficient, but it would have to work. I looked over at Sakura now.

She was sitting on the edge of the shore, her feet dangling in the deep water. We had found out that the land didn't slope up, it was a sudden drop off into the water and the shoreline of our little home was actually an overhang. She was wearing a simple black shirt and black shorts. She had no weapons on her today and she allowed her hair to flow freely down her back.

I had decided, since I didn't seem to be changing anytime soon and we were out of danger, that I would slowly start opening up to her and allowing her to see the emotions I held for her. She was not aware of the things I felt for her. I only prayed that, when she did find out, that if she does not reciprocate my feelings, she would allow me to stay with her. I smiled contentedly as I walked to sit next to her.

She smiled up at me, her green eyes dancing slightly. I sat next to her, preparing myself on what I should talk about, when a large hawk flew through the vines, close to the water, and headed straight for Sakura. I grabbed her defensively, rolling to the side and pulling out a kunai. I looked up to stare at the hawk resting where we had been sitting, letter attached to its foot. I looked down to Sakura, whom I was laying on top of, as she began to speak.

"It's all right Itachi-san." I winced internally as she still used the formal suffix. "That is Gaara-kun's personal messenger." I nodded slightly as I got off of her. She shuffled over to the hawk, scratching behind it's ears as she took the letter. It took off as soon as the letter was unhooked. I watched as her eyes widened and then narrowed as she read the letter. Her face looked back up at me. Gone were her sparkling eyes, in their place was a look of grim determination. I took the letter form her and read.

_Dear Sakura-chan,_

_I don't want to bother you, little sister, but I need your help. I know you said you didn't plan on coming back, but I'm desperate. Orochimaru is in the process of destroying Konoha, many people have already died. You are right, he is weakening._

_But the problem is concerning Naruto-kun. He lost control, as he usually does, and the Nine Tailed Fox is currently being released, albeit slowly. He gains a tail ever few days. He is already up to five tails. Kakashi worked hard to contain him, he was killed by Kabuto._

_Tsunade is trying to control the beast, but she grows weaker by the day. Many have lent her their chakra, but they can't give to much with the war raging around them. Jiriyah is the only person that can contain the beast, other than yourself. Jiriyah is currently on his way to help in case Tsunade falls, which is most likely going to happen._

_This is not the end of the problem. The demon, it is calling the other tailed beasts. The small connection I have left with the Shukaku is making me aware of this. The five tailed beast has been spotted by my men to be making his way to Konoha, four tails released. I fear the worst Sakura. Orochimaru, I can fight him. The tailed beasts? No, they will destroy me and my people, they will kill us all._

_Please, Sakura, I beg of you to come back and help us. Bring as many reinforcements as you can. At the rate the war in Konoha is going, Konoha will be destroyed withing the month. Orochimaru will then make his way here, luring the beasts with him. He planned this Sakura, he knew the beasts would come when Naruto released this much of the Beast._

_Orochimaru will destroy the Hidden Villages, he will become the ruler. But he is arrogant. I don't believe he realizes the beast get stronger the longer they are out and together. He believes he can control the Beasts, or destroy them. But they can't be controlled, and he can't destroy them alone. Please, we need your help._

_Sincerely,_

_Gaara_

I looked back up into the eyes of my beloved and sighed, my plans to woo her would have to be put on hold.

-(^.^)-

**A/N: After a long period of waiting, I have finally updated. I apologize everyone, I've been going through a lot lately, but it's all good. I had to write this chapter about twenty different time, I couldn't find the perfect way to keep the story going. But I found it. So I hoped everyone enjoyed this!**

**Oh, and I dedicate this chapter to **_**Shinju, Mermaid Caren, and babygirl1998.**_** even after this really long time, you reviewed long after my last update. So, this is to you guys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.**


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